Tomva

St. Bart is an overseas collectivity of France, and therefore a part of the European Union. Official currency is the EURO but many places will accept dollars.

If you would like confirmation, here is the page on St Barthélemy in the CIA World Factbook.

If you are an American flying from the US you will need your passport (but no Visa) to pass customs.

Thanks for your answer, James! Now I understand....Mmay--we've been several times--our 4th trip is in just 2 short weeks----Tomva read a Twitter post earlier today suggesting that SBH may leave the EU, and it linked to the article, but my husband doesn't read/speak French, and my skills are very marginal!
It would be very interesting if that's the direction SBH goes--- I just wonder if anything in the article explains why they decided to do this....

Some background:

Régions ultrapériphériques (RUP) - or "most remote regions" in English, is a term used in European Union policy designating regions that are part of the European Union but which are physically far from the European continent (details here).

For France, the RUPs comprise the 4 overseas départements: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Guyane.

Before mid-2007, St. Barts was a town of Guadeloupe. Therefore its dealings with both the French State and the European Union were handled through the government of Guadeloupe. After a change of statute to an overseas collectivity (collectivité d’outre-mer, COM), governance is more complicated. The new statute created more direct links between St. Barts and the French State. St. Barts was given a seat in the Senate, but is still represented in the National Assembly by the Guadeloupean representative. I believe that the St. Barts was also most recently represented by Guadeloupe in the latest European elections.

Pays et territoires d'outre-mer (PTOM), or overseas countries and territories (OCT), is a term used in European Union policy designating regions that are not part of the European Union but whose residents are nationals of a Member State.

Residents of PTOMs are still considered citizens of the European Union, and the PTOM itself still has access to European development funds. However, EU rules and regulations are not (completely?) imposed in PTOMs (details here).

Now, on to the article:

On October 8, the Territorial Council votes in favor of changing St. Barts’ statute from RUP to PTOM. Benoît Chauvin was the only dissenting vote, and Corinne Fébrissy abstained.

The vote was apparently unexpected, the journalists having been led to believe that there would be only a debate on a change in statute (”On s’attendait à un simple débat. Contre toute attente…) The President of the Territorial Council, Bruno Magras, explained the haste by 1) the current ratification of the Treaty of Lisbonne (which, according to him, favors the change in statute), and 2) the upcoming Conseil Intérministeriel de l’Outre-Mer scheduled for Nov 8 (a meeting organized by Sarkozy in response to the massive strikes in Guadeloupe and Martinique in January-February 2009) (which, according to him, is a great opportunity to get the issue on the table)

Bruno Magras’ reasons for changing St. Barts’ statute to PTOM
1)  It is the obvious evolution of St Barts from COM, which received 95% support of the population.
2) To safeguard St. Barts as tax haven. Magras claims that European Customs could, if they chose, put in place import/export duties immediately. This particular point is contested by Maxime Desouches (who voted for the change in statute), who believes that the EU would continue to recognize the special tax situation of St. Bart.
3) Having separated from Guadeloupe, St Bart already sees a considerable decrease in FEADER (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD) funds. FED (European Development Fund, EDF) funds available to PTOMs would probably also not be made available to St Barts. Therefore, there is no substantial loss in transforming St Bart into a PTOM.
4) Applying European Union norms would be costly to St. Barts

Benoît Chauvin reasons for his dissenting vote:
1) RUPs have achieved specific laws – and in the process developed effective lobbying methods – that accord special rules and regulations from the European Union. PTOMs can also obtain such special treatment, but they are apparently less strong and developed in this respect.
2) There is little to gain in changing St. Barts' statute: Even if St Barts received very little from the EU as a RUP, St Barts will receive even less as a PTOM.
3) European norms serve to protect its citizens and the environment. Therefore, to seek exemption from these norms is to ignore the safety and health of the inhabitants and the environment of St. Barts.

Chauvin questions the haste with which this decision is being made and regrets that a referendum is not being used. He says that it would be preferable to properly situate St. Barts as a COM before deciding to leave the European Union.

 Fébrissy also voiced her regret that this decision was not being put to referendum.

In response to Chauvin’s criticisms, Magras states that the change in statute does not put into question St. Bart's membership to the European Union, nor its commitment to health and environment. “The decision to leave the European Union was not taken to keep us from what we want, but to prevent having rules we don’t want imposed on us. Chauvin is critical of Magras assurances, citing recent examples where St Bart has (already) not made into law certain environmental regulations adopted at the EU and national level. "We can decide to apply norms as well as Europe, but as badly also!"